I didn’t take these photos, but I’ll tell you, I’ve seen a lot of corruption regarding free parking for SFGov employees in the SoMA area, so I believe them.
Here’s a photo essay with captions from Jim, who went on a walkabout yesterday.
Take a look:
“There are the People who pay up front to park in a lot, $25-$70. There are the people who feed meters but many of those wind up paying $72 to the City long after the last pitch. And there are those who play the system and possibly cheat and pay nothing for parking in a “red zone” with the help from “winking and nodding” SFMTA Parking Control Officers.
All these photos were taken within a 50 foot circle near 2nd & Townsend at 2:15 P.M. on Sunday April 7, 2013 during the Giants/St. Louis Baseball game.
1) Number 1 shows what the average slug must pay for parking for the Giant’s game at 2 in the afternoon, i.e. $70.
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2) Number 2 shows a Handicapped placard vehicle getting free Giants game parking in the “red zone” of the SFFD at Second & Townsend. Handicapped placard holders may not park in “red zones.”
3) What appears to be several private vehicles of S.F. firefighters parked in the “red zone” claiming to be working by their Official Papers on the Dash. Is it mere code for “don’t ticket a fellow City employee?”
4) Several motorcycles getting ticketed (TC27, 219) for expired meters by the PCO who just drove by the “red zones” without seeing cause to stop.
5) Photo of SFFD Headquarters at 9:30 A.M., Sunday April 7, 2013 in case you think a lot of people work there on a Sunday.
“Looking at moving violations, Quality Planning found that Toyota Prius drivers get 0.38 violations per 100,000 miles driven, compared to an average of 0.23″
Nicht gut.
Now, there are reasons why drivers of Toyota Prius Hybrids don’t seem to be able to turn their headlights on at night the way other people do.* But those reasons aren’t important.
What is important is that you either:
1. Take note of when the air changes color and then turn on your headlights when things start to turn black (Il metodo della Vecchia Scuola); 0r
Yet another Toyota Prius out at night without lights:
Click to expand
So, I don’t want to hear any more complaining about how you don’t know which pedal to push, or you don’t know how to turn off the engine on your car, or how your HID headlights break all the time and they cost $1200 to fix. No no, the biggest problem you have, the biggest threat to your life when you’re behind the wheel of your Prius is you yourself.
Let’s keep that in s’perpective….
*And I’ll freely admit that Toyota is partially at fault for overestimating the abilities of its customers…
Lot’s of times we have signs on the streets of San Francisco warning of a construction zone - this is your notification of the days and times a parking space is unavailable. When a crew comes in the morning and see your car, they’ll have it towed away with extreme prejudice.
But look here at the policy of mega utility Pigs, Girafffes and Elephants: just leave your number and they’ll let you know when you need to move. Que bueno!
But in the meantime and while we’re on the topic, take a look at Teak Motion Visuals’ attempt at verisimilitude. How contrived does this scene appear on a scale from 1 to 10? Can’t you just see the guy with a baseball cap plotting out the most effective bouquet of garbage?
The makers of these contrived bits probably had a good time getting paid to do them, but when you start fibbing and shilling… Will this LEGO stunt end up on the list of Great Examples of Guerilla Marketing Gone Wrong?
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